XIX - Deliverance

Oreic's fire, Enshiron's wind, and Elysia's poison were all ineffective against Fanghui. The mercury running in his nervous system made an invisible barrier that deflected magic and high-velocity bullets.

Fanghui countered Oreic's flamethrower with his fire breath. "Herald's Hand: Breath of Garmir!"

"Herald's Hand: Njord Tornadus!" He clapped his hands to summon a tornado against Enshiron's wind.

Fanghui elbowed Elysia, countering her poison machete with a poison elbow strike. "Herald's Hand: Decaying Yggdrasil, Nidhogg!"

"Hold your families tightly, Vulpi! Hold them close as I did when you took mine away!" Fanghui then swiped a claw to reflect all magic at his enemies. "Despair, all Vulpi! Your destruction is on the rise! Herald's Hand: Claw of Fenrir!"

Oreic clapped his hands to cast a fire shield to protect his Vulpi companions. "Fanghui! We know the pain you're suffering from! We're humbly sorry that the Waxing Sickle made a bad example of our race!"

"Mom liked to bake cakes for us. Dad liked to play his clarinet for us!" Fanghui cried, remembering his childhood with his four little siblings.

"Did you all know? Kifen just wanted to dance. Hongmi wanted to see the stars and be an astronaut! Jein liked chemistry. Limian wanted to be an actor!"

Saitori cut Fanghui with her sword, but his mercury muscles and bones were impervious to cuts, physical trauma, and most forms of pain.

"Herald's Hand: Hand of Odin!" With a powerful palm, he sent Saitori flying, shattering her sword. "You Vulpi say you're sorry? You demand that I forgive you after denying my family's dreams? What did we do to deserve such vile treatment?"

All the Vulpi shuddered as Fanghui's wrath and tears were far too great.

"Herald's Hand: Holy Mjolnir!" Fanghui's eyes burned white hot, holding a fistful of Thor's hammer.

When he smashed the ground, a mighty thunderstorm electrified the Vulpi.

"I wasn't the eldest brother they wanted! I wasn't the eldest son Mom and Dad dreamed of! Why? Because I couldn't protect them!" Fanghui lunged at Elysia with a slithering water palm strike. "Herald's Hand: Tsunami Strike, Jormungandr!"

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Shien and Mivangeline protected Elysia with sharpened palms.

"Fanghui! Please forgive the Vulpi!" Mivangeline begged. "Not all Vulpi are evil like the Waxing Sickle! Is there room in your heart to forgive?"

"Your family loves you!" Shien pushed Fanghui with an elbow strike. "Avian Form: Toucan's Mace!"

Fanghui brushed his red robe, not feeling any pain. "My family demands redemption from me! They are displeased with me! Only by killing the Vulpi can I earn their love back!"

Isrina wobbled on her injured leg. "I must help."

"No, Mom! Let Mivange and I deal with this!" Shien warned. "Uncle Oreic! Please take care of her!"

The Master Magician watched over Isrina as Enshiron and Elysia helped Saitori take care of the wounded. The UICA rebels fought the Federation Reaper Squad troops while Shien and Mivangeline stood in a face-off with Fanghui.

"Avian Form: Parotia's Guillotine!" Shien hurled the beheading kick at Fanghui.

Fanghui's head wasn't cut off. He simply cracked his neck back in place.

"Avian Form: Wyneck Scythe!" Mivangeline cut Fanghui with sharp palm strikes.

She couldn't cut Fanghui's limbs off. Fanghui looked at his bleeding skin, not feeling any pain.

"I wish I were this invincible when the Waxing Sickle killed my family! Then, I could've protected them! Herald's Hand: Hand of Odin!"

He pushed the couple back with a powerful palm and lunged for Shien. "Herald's Hand: Loki's Mirage!"

"Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!"

Shien and Fanghui attacked with palm strikes.

"Lord, can Fanghui's heart be healed?" Mivangeline asked as she calculated a plan.

Meanwhile, Shien attacked with finger strikes as Fanghui blocked with beak-shaped palms.

"Avian Form: Pitohui Stinger Strikes!"

"Herald's Hand: Hugin and Munin!"

Mivangeline recalled her martial arts training with Shien. She remembered Shien discussing how hand-to-hand impacts damage the opponent's muscles and bones.

Fanghui injected mercury into his body. His muscles, skeleton, and nerves are immune to most forms of pain. Typical means of fast kills, like beheading and cutting him into pieces, don't work either.

As martial artists, we typically damage muscles and bones till they break, as Shien said. But in this case, regular strikes won't affect Fanghui. We should target something other than muscles and bones, yes! If we can hurt his internal organs with piercing strikes!

As the commander pieced her strategy together, Shien and Fanghui kicked each other back.

"Avian Form: Flamingo's Talon!"

"Herald's Hand: Hooves of Sleipnir!"

Both then smashed their fists at each other as Mivangeline finalized her strategy.

"Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!"

"Herald's Hand: Holy Mjolnir!"

Fanghui's eyes turned hot white, pushing Shien back with his shocking fistful of Thor's hammer.

"Any thoughts, Mivange?" Shien huffed.

"I do! God is good."

"Herald's Hand: Skadi Destrudo!" Fanghui lunged a palm to summon a blizzard at the couple.

"Avian Form: Riflebird's Wingbeat!" Mivangeline flapped her arms like wings to blow the icy windstorm away. "Shien, we can't damage his muscles and bones. We need attacks that pierce his organs."

Shien nodded. "Finger strikes should be effective to help with that!"

"Herald's Hand: Loki's Mirage!" Fanghui attacked Shien with fast palm strikes.

"Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!" Shien countered with beak-shaped palms.

Mivangeline aimed two fingers into Fanghui's heart. "Avian Form: Chickadee's Touch!"

Fanghui grasped his paralyzed heart as if it skipped a beat.

"Avian Form: Hummingbird's Tongue!" Mivangeline curled her index finger within.

Fanghui winced, spitting blood that boiled with lactic acid. "Herald's Hand: Hand of Odin!"

Mivangeline was sent flying by the powerful palm, but Shien attacked with swarms of finger strikes.

"Avian Form: Pitohui Stinger Strikes!"

"Herald's Hand: Hugin and Munin!" Fanghui used beak-shaped palms to defend against the finger strikes. "Herald's Hand: Decaying Yggdrasil, Nidhogg!"

"Avian Form: Toucan's Mace!" Shien collided his elbow strike with Fanghui's poison elbow.

"Avian Form: Roadrunner Blitz!" Mivangeline bashed her head into Fanghui's with super speed. "Avian Form: Crown of Kinglets!"

The swarm of ring fingers struck Fanghui's brain, making him feel dizzy.

"Herald's Hand: Tsunami Strike, Jormungandr!" Fanghui attacked with slithering water palm strikes.

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Shien and Mivangeline countered with blade-cutting palms.

"Herald's Hand: Njord Tornadus!" Fanghui clapped his hands to summon a tornado.

"Avian Form: Riflebird's Wingbeat!" The couple blew Fanghui's windstorm away.

Mivangeline aimed two fingers at Fanghui's head. "Avian Form: Chickadee's Touch!"

"Herald's Hand: Hooves of Sleipnir!" Fanghui kicked her away, but didn't see Shien approach.

"Avian Form: Crown of Kinglets!" Shien hit Fanghui's skull with ring finger strikes.

Fanghui hissed as his mind felt dizzy with every strike. "Herald's Hand: Gateway to Niflheim!"

His hair flickered like fire as he stomped a six-winged seraphim crater into the ground. Shien and Mivangeline jumped over the burning fissure, aiming finger strikes at Fanghui.

"Herald's Hand: Breath of Garmir!" Fanghui breathed fire into the air, trying to stay conscious.

"Avian Form: Riflebird's Wingbeat!" Shien blew the fire away. "Avian Form: Hummingbird's Tongue!"

"Herald's Hand: Skadi Destrudo!" Fanghui lunged a palm to blow Shien back with a blizzard.

"Avian Form: Pitohui Stinger Strikes!" Mivangeline's finger strikes at Fanghui's head, making his vision blur.

"Herald's Hand: Claw of Fenrir!" Fanghui swatted Mivangeline with the reflecting claw strike.

"Avian Form: Chickadee's Touch!" Shien shocked Fanghui's brain with two fingers. "Avian Form: Hummingbird's Tongue!"

The curled index finger punctured Fanghui's brain, making him scream.

"Avian Form: Great Titmouse Strike!" Mivangeline wasted no time shoving three fingers that greatly damaged Fanghui's brain.

With a loud shriek, Fanghui was on his knees. His brain was slowly bleeding to death from the penetrating finger strikes that bypassed his muscles and bones. The rebels and the Reaper Squad stopped fighting. The zeppelins and panzers ceased fire, and so did the rebel airships and tanks. Everyone watched as the Federation leader sobbed.

"S-so, this is how it ends, " Fanghui sniffed. "I-I failed my family. They won't accept me in the afterlife."

Shien walked to Fanghui. He felt moved by the Holy Spirit to do something, but stopped to look at Mivangeline. She nodded to her future husband, urging him to go, and knowing very well what he was thinking.

"What's our buddy doing?" Elysia asked.

Enshiron shrugged. "I-I'm uncertain, my lady."

"D-did we win?" Saitori huffed as Isrina limped toward her son.

"M-my Little Chickadee?" Isrina called.

"Wait," Oreic assured everyone. "Let him go. Watch closely, my students! This is important!"

Shien knelt in front of Fanghui, who was crying.

"Fanghui, your family loves you," Shien smiled.

"I wasn't the eldest brother they wanted! I didn't fulfill my duty as the oldest son! For more than fifty years, I wanted to hear Mom, Dad, and my siblings say they were proud of me!"

"They are, Fanghui! Family will never expect you to earn their love!" Shien wiped Fanghui's tears.

Everyone watched Shien sit beside the dying Fanghui. Shien looked into Fanghui's weary red and teal eyes, filled with grief.

"I-I did everything to hear my family say they love and forgive me. I-I made a contract with the Aesir gods. I sold my soul to Odin, Thor, and Loki to help me earn their love by destroying the Vulpi as the harbinger of Ragnarok!"

"I injected mercury into myself every day to make myself invincible to magic, but I had to give my blood to the wolves of Fenrir and let the serpents of Jormungandr slither in my body! I hear voices in my head that say I wasn't a good son, a good brother! I have never smiled nor felt happy for more than fifty years! I did everything, and it was still not enough!"

As Fanghui sobbed, everyone gasped in tears. Fanghui had suffered so much.

"Fanghui, do you want to see Heaven and your family?" Shien asked, patting his shoulder. "Do you want to be healed?"

"I-I can't. It's too late for me. I will die soon, and the Aesir gods will condemn my soul into Niflheim!"

"Fanghui, it's never too late to be healed. Look at me. Do you want to see Heaven and your family? Do you want to be healed?"

Fanghui's blurry vision turned to Shien. "Y-yes."

Shien nodded. "Fanghui, your parents and siblings are proud of you. And so is God."

"W-why would God love me? Have I done too much wrong already?"

"Fanghui, we're all sinners who can never atone for every wrong we do. But I tell you, Jesus, the Messiah has already taken your punishment on the cross. The Lord loves you and welcomes you home!"

Fanghui cried, making his first smile after more than fifty years. As his vision blurred, he saw his mother and father. Then, his little sister Kifen. Then, his three younger brothers, Hongmi, Jein, and Limian. They smiled at him, eager to take Fanghui home. Shien then took Fanghui's hands in prayer.

"I break every demonic contract of Niflheim that was made with the Nordic Aesir. I detach you from every whisper and lie the serpents of Jormungandr made about your family. I declare that your body no longer belongs to the wolves of Fenrir! Odin, Thor, and Loki have tormented you long enough! Fanghui, be healed, in the name of Jesus! The Lord welcomes you home!"

Shien gave Fanghui one last hug. Fanghui smiled, seeing his happy parents and four siblings arrive to take him into Heaven. As he peacefully closed his tearful eyes in death and joy, he saw someone beside his family. He had eyes of fire and was dressed in light.

"Fanghui, my child!" The man declared with a voice of thunder. "Welcome home!"

After Fanghui's eyes closed in death, Shien wiped his tears. He knew the Lord had brought deliverance to Fanghui. Even at death, it wasn't too late to bring healing to his soul.

The Reaper Squad dropped their weapons and took their helmets off, in awe to see their Supreme Leader find the peace he longed for. Isrina, Oreic, Enshiron, and Elysia clapped in joyful tears. So did Mivangeline, who was proud of her future husband.

Shien looked up and declared. "Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for saving this lost soul! Thank you for healing your people!"